Sable crouched low behind the lofty mugwort. She reached the entrance of the Ajar Forest at dawn and was patiently waiting for the appearance of Cathan and the two fur trappers. The sharp, sage-like smelling plant boosted the ranger's concentration as she formulated a plan. 

First I will follow them. I won't kill them until it's the right time. She believed that they were going to lead her to Bluey. She did not exactly know why, but she believed in the dream she had.

The first man that showed up was a tall, middle-aged man with a gray wolf tail hat. In fact, he almost looked like a wolf with his long nose and drooping lower lip. The scar on his right cheek also caught her attention. A finely crafted tan, leather fringe jacket clothed his chest which matched his ankle high suede boots. Sable glared at his dark blue eyes and immediately did not like the impressions she felt from him. Perhaps he is Cathan? Sable wondered. He started to pace back and forth impatiently even though he just arrived at the forest. The ranger glanced at the wire cage by his feet and studied the bow and quiver of arrows strapped on his back and sheathed dagger on his left hip.

Minutes later, two men arrived together. They must be the fur trappers, Sable thought as she scrutinized their faces. One of them was a young man that appeared to be around her age. He was shorter than the two men and had a curly nest of brown hair. His body was slightly on the plumper side, but compared to the wolfish-looking man, he was more attractive. The other man standing by him was as skinny as a birch tree. His blond hair was tied back into a ponytail, and his beard grew out. Both of them were dressed in the same manner as Cathan with sheathed daggers, bows, and quivers of arrows. They were all armed with hunting equipment.

Sable did not know if she could take them down all at once, but it was probably safer to shoot them by luring each man out of the group. She thought of Ruby and Elia, hoping that the two were not worrying about her. There was not enough time to return back to her tree cavern to notify them, so she hoped that they would remain where they were. The wolfish-man, whom Sable assumed was Cathan, started to speak.

"Tyrell," he addressed the blond man in respectful tone and turned to face the younger man with indifference. "Colin."

"We're ready, Cathan," Tyrell said with a grin. "How many do you think we'll trap?"

Cathan began to walk along him as Colin treaded behind. Sable kept up behind them as she ducked low through shrubs and trees.

"I wouldn't say because this is a new business," Cathan replied, "but if we're lucky, we should at least find one today."

Tyrell nodded understandingly. "Do you know where we are heading to?"

"To the lake," Cathan answered which made Sable flinch. 

Where Bluey was in my dream, the ranger thought. "I haven't trapped any beasts in the Ajar Forest for years," he continued. "I was too busy in the Vipula Forest with my own wolf and snow bear fur trade. I made plenty of money from bountiful beasts." The fur trader ended his sentence with a boastful tone. Sable could not believe how he could be proud of such monstrous 'accomplishment'. It angered her that humans like him could kill predators for their fur to sell them for profit. She understood the necessity of wildlife perseverance; she was a huntress herself after all. She only took what was needed—life was scarce and precious. Sable hunted animals sparingly for only food and clothing, but never would she kill an animal to sell their coat.

"Vipula Forest?" Colin asked timidly with a sense of awe. "Isn't that up in the North?" He was quite surprised that Cathan even answered him.

"Yes," the fur trader replied as he turned his head to smirk at the boy. "In Lumia, out of the lands of Oihana." He chuckled. "I almost got my arse killed by a freaking ranger."

Sable widened her eyes at the irony.

"I was hacking an injured mother snow bear mother in front of her pitiful cubs. Then the bitch ambushed me from a tree and almost choked me to death. My partner saved me in time and shot her in the head. It was a shame she died though; I would not mind keeping her as my wench."

"Wench, hah!" Tyrell said with a grin. "How she look?"

A grin spread on Cathan's face. "She had the whitest skin like a lily; a small bust but a nice arse."

The two older men burst out into laughter. Colin remained quiet but horrified. Sable could not tell if he was either repulsed by Cathan's remark or deed or the fact that he almost got killed.

Cathan talks about trapping 'beasts,' but he's a beast himself, Sable thought angrily. The conversation made her sick in her stomach; if she could right now, she would shoot a dozen of arrows at Cathan and enjoy them slicing through his body as he spits out blood from a painful death. 'Wench' was such an offensive name to call a woman. Sable remembered back when she lived with her grandmother in the Tameka Forest, the town nearby had bars where drunken men would call her derogatory names. Every time Sable had to do errands to sell herbal remedies her grandmother made, she dreaded passing through them and had to find 'safer' routes to get by.

Sable lips twisted into a mischievous smile when the men approached the quicksand she accidentally fell in last time. Her dark brown eyes anticipated every moment as they walked closer to the trap. Sable was mostly eager to watch Cathan fall.

Sable's wish was doubled when Cathan tripped over a medium-sized stone. Falling face down into the puddle of quicksand, Cathan yelped loudly.

"What the hell?" Cathan shouted as he struggled in the liquid. "I can't get out! What the hell is this crap?" Unfortunately, he did not know that the more he moved, the quicksand would pull him under more.

Tyrell and Colin burst out laughing at Cathan's clumsiness. Sable covered her mouth to resist giggling. The furious fur trader, whose ego was now bruised from embarrassment, was yowling and cursing at the two for just watching him and not helping him get out. The mud caked on his scrawny face did not help the situation either since he could not be taken seriously.

"Don't worry, Cathan," Tyrell said as he calmed down. "Give me your hand!" He grabbed the fur trader's hand and tried to pull him out, but he would not budge. The attempt of pulling Cathan out of the quicksand turned more into a game of tug-o-war as the liquid soil grabbed Cathan deeper into the puddle.

Frustrated, Tyrell shot Colin an irritated glare. "Boy! Just don't stand there. Help him get out, or you'll get your arse kicked."

The threat snapped Colin to grab Cathan's other hand. As Colin and Tyrell tried to pull Cathan out of the quicksand, Sable yawned at the pitiful scene. They were doing it all wrong to pull the fur trader out, but nevertheless, the ranger gained some amusement from the scene. After minutes or so, they finally dragged out a very furious Cathan whom looked like he could kill both of them.

~~~

The first to wake up, Elia noticed that Sable did not return yet. Kicking off the light blanket, she dressed hastily into her armor. Ruby awakened from the light sounds of Elia changing and rolled around groggily to glance at her.

"She's not back yet is she?" the redhead asked, sitting up to rub her eyes.

"No," Elia replied, "but I think she is after the fur traders now."

Ruby groaned. "Why didn't she return to wait for us? We were supposed to help."

The warrioress shrugged as she slipped her foot inside her steel greave. "I think it's just her nature, but we better get going."

Ruby nodded and fetched her green hooded tunic on the ground. As she dressed, she said suddenly, "You know, I had not slept this peacefully before since a long time."

Looking up Ruby, Elia stopped putting her feet into her other greave. She recalled last night and found herself blushing from her impulsive action. "Uh… what do you mean by that?" the warrioress asked cautiously. Had Ruby been possibly awakened at that time, pretending to be asleep?

"I'm not sure," Ruby replied, feeling intimidated, as she lost eye contact with Elia. The warrioress caught her blush slightly. "I just felt that I strangely slept more peacefully even though I was worried about Sable."

"I see," Elia said, relieved that Ruby had been asleep that time. "That's good to hear. Peaceful sleeps are rare."

Ruby smiled at the warrioress. "Yeah."